This paleo potato hummus is smooth, flavorful, and ideal for spring get-togethers. No one will guess it’s made with potatoes! This post is sponsored by Potatoes USA.

If you’re looking for a paleo alternative to traditional hummus, I have a treat for you today! This legume-free hummus comes together in just half an hour and is made with Yukon Gold potatoes. The flavor and texture are so similar to regular hummus, though, that no one will be the wiser. Alongside a platter of vibrant crudités, this super-smooth hummus is sure to be a hit at your next party.

I made this paleo potato hummus for a family gathering a couple of weeks ago and told everyone that it was hummus with a bit of a twist. It was quickly devoured, and no one guessed that potatoes were involved. As someone who doesn’t feel well after eating legumes like chickpeas, I’m thrilled to have discovered this crowd-pleasing, bean-free version of hummus. With olive oil drizzled on top and a sprinkle of paprika, it’s the perfect counterpart to a spread of spring’s freshest veggies.

This gluten-free winter vegetable gratin is a show-stopping side dish for holiday meals or any special occasion.

I had dinner with Mary of Chattavore the other night, and we were talking about how much we hate winter, even here in the Mid-South where we barely have one to speak of. She mentioned disliking the early sunsets, so I told her an optimistic tidbit that I learned online the other day: despite the fact that the winter solstice isn’t until December 21st, the earliest sunset of the year is often much sooner. In fact, here in Chattanooga, it’s today!

The sun set at 5:29 in Chattanooga today, and will set at about the same time tomorrow and the next day. After that, it will begin to set later and later. (The days will continue to get shorter because the sun will be rising later in the morning, but if you’re anything like me and Mary, that doesn’t bother you quite as much as the early nightfall.)

The winter solstice has always been a nice turning point for me in my thinking–almost like it’s the very first sign of spring. Even in Boston when the worst of winter doesn’t come until January, knowing that each day we were gaining minutes of daylight made me feel optimistic. Thanks to my new knowledge about the earliest sunset preceding the solstice by several weeks, I’m going to go ahead and start with all that positive thinking today!

The routine goes like this: buy a local, free-range chicken and some fresh produce on Friday, roast the chicken with root vegetables and blend the greens into a pesto on Saturday, and make homemade chicken stock on Sunday. (Of course, you can start the routine any day of the week–that’s just what works best for me since I’m at work all day Monday through Thursday.)

I’ve been carrying out this roast chicken tradition pretty much every other weekend. I love every part of the process: buying what I need at the farmers market, roasting the chicken and vegetables, preparing the pesto, making the broth, and of course, eating what I’ve made (and sometimes even sharing it).

Since moving down to Tennessee and joining a winter CSA from Big Sycamore Farm, I’ve become even more obsessed with cooking with local ingredients and trying all different kinds of vegetables. So when I got a gorgeous bunch of carrots with all their vibrant greens still attached, I was determined to use the tops. I knew I’d read about carrot top pesto somewhere, and a quick search reminded me that the recipe is from Diane Morgan’s cookbook Roots (and is also available online via Culinate).

This comforting soup combines parsnip and pumpkin in a healthy and beautiful bowl of fall goodness.

Did you miss me? I’m finally back from the longest posting hiatus of my three-and-a-half-year blogging career. I really missed sharing recipes, but have been spending a ton of time behind the scenes getting ready for the transition to WordPress. Between that, my full-time day job, trying to unpack from our move, and my efforts to get a little shut-eye, there just hasn’t been any time left. I’ll be around more now that some of the chaos has died down, though (and if you’re ever looking for me when it’s quiet over here, I’m probably still posting all of my breakfasts on Instagram).

So, what do you think of the new site? I still have a lot of work to do fixing little formatting issues in older posts and adding back in some of my sidebar content, but I’m really happy with the change so far. If you happen to notice broken links, have any other issues, or just want to give me some feedback, feel free to send me an email. One thing I’m really excited about is the recipe formatting plugin I’m using in this post, which allows you to get a printer-friendly version of the recipe with a single click. As soon as I find time I’ll be updating older posts so that they’re easy to print, too.

In other news, my cookbook comes out in just over two weeks on November 3rd! It’s been upgraded to release day delivery on Amazon, so if you pre-order, you can get it right on release day without any extra delay for shipping!

This blistered okra with garlic and cumin is much healthier than fried okra

but just as addictive! It’s also paleo, gluten-free, and vegan.

How do you feel about okra? I always hated it in gumbo and other gummy preparations as a kid, but quickly fell in love with fried okra. Last year I even made a paleo version of fried okra that’s really good, but it’s not super quick to make.

My love for okra eventually expanded to include bhindi masala, an Indian curry where the okra is cooked with plenty of ginger, garlic, onion, and tomato, and there’s a recipe for that in my cookbook. While delicious, bhindi masala also takes a little time to make.

When I scored some really beautiful okra at the farmers’ market, I wanted to cook it quickly in a way that would highlight its intrinsic flavor while minimizing its intrinsic gumminess. A little research indicated that cooking okra briefly over relatively high heat would be most likely to achieve those results.

I was so happy with how this recipe turned out! Slicing the okra lengthwise provides a nice surface for browning while preserving the attractive silhouette of the pods. (Did you know okra is also known as lady fingers? Move on over, cookies whose sole purpose is to make tiramisu!) The recipe starts with getting a cast iron skillet nice and hot, then adding butter or oil. Whole cumin seeds, garlic cloves, and dried chiles are added next, infusing the cooking fat with savory and subtly spiced flavor and a gentle, warming heat. The okra are added next and cooked for about ten minutes, turning a few times, until nice and browned. Add a hefty sprinkle of flaky sea salt and that’s it! Non-fried okra that you won’t be able to stop eating.

Happy Friday! Are you ready to slather your dinner in an irresistible basil lime compound butter?

I love this meal because it’s simple and flavorful. The basil lime butter makes the chicken and vegetables more delicious without making them taste any less like themselves. Instead of obscuring the flavors of the main ingredients like heavy sauces sometimes do, it just kisses them with a little herbal, citrusy richness that still lets their natural essence come through.

For the roasted vegetables, you can use whatever you have on hand. I used beets, carrots, summer squash, and onions. They need different amounts of time to roast, so I added the beets to the baking sheet first, then the carrots, and finally the squash and onions. If you want to sub in other vegetables and aren’t sure how long they need to roast, check out this handy chart.

Quick and easy grilled shrimp skewers, creamy sesame slaw, and ripe avocado get together to form the perfect paleo summertime meal.

I know it’s been quiet on the blog this past week, but I’m back with another delicious and fast recipe for 30 Minute Mondays! You can grill or broil these shrimp skewers, and the vegetables don’t need cooking. That means if you grill outdoors, you can avoid heating up your kitchen and still end up with a delicious and balanced meal. That’s what summer is all about, right?

My fiancé and I have been down in Chattanooga for the past few days, checking out jobs, houses, and apartments. Even though I grew up in Boston, I’ve always felt like I’m a Southern girl at heart due to my mom’s Texas roots and all the time I’ve spent down there, so I’m really excited that we’re moving to Tennessee next month. I’m almost done with graduate school, and after we move I’ll get to start my job as a speech-language pathologist working with kids of all ages (and of course, blogging in the evenings and on weekends). I can’t wait!

Strange coincidence: last year, on January 25th, 2014, I wrote about romanesco in a post entitled 7 Uncommon Vegetables for your Produce Bucket List. I had never seen romanesco in a store. I kept my eyes peeled for it all year, but could never find any. That is, until last Wednesday, when I finally spotted some at my local Whole Foods . . . on January 25th, 2015. Weird, right?

Coming across this gorgeous vegetable exactly one year after posting about it has me wondering if it might be magic. I mean, look at those spirals! According to Wikipedia, the number of spirals on a head of Romanesco is a Fibonacci number, and its form approximates a fractal. How is it possible that something like this exists?

In addition to its special properties, romanesco is delicious. I roasted it whole because I couldn’t bear to slice it up any sooner than I had to. Its flavor is similar to cauliflower and broccoli, but a little milder and nuttier. And, just like with cauliflower or broccoli, the browned bits are extra delicious. If you can’t find romanesco, you could definitely use one of its brassica cousins for this recipe instead.

My mom is from Texas, and I lived there for four years, so I am a bit of a Southern girl at heart. I like fried okra, really hot weather, and smiling at people I don’t know (not as much of a thing here in Boston, unfortunately).

As a true Texan, my mom gets really excited about greens, but I was never able to share in her excitement until now. When I was a kid she often worked to recreate the greens my grandmother used to make, which started with salt pork and reportedly ended up as a fabulous and memorable side dish. I never had the chance to try my grandmother’s greens, so I can’t really say how my mom’s versions compared, but as a child I felt exasperation and dread whenever my mother picked up those gargantuan leaves at the store. I just didn’t like collard greens.

It has been a very long time since I’ve posted a recipe, and I’m hoping these squash noodles with everything pesto and a fried egg on top will at least partly make up for it. Things have been busy at school, and it’s getting harder and harder to blog often and stay on top of my readings and projects. However, I am sure you do not want to hear about that. I bet you’d rather hear about this brunch (dinner? lunch? midnight snack?) recipe that’s paleo, grain-free, vegetarian, and ridiculously delicious.

I have to admit that I was unsatisfied with zoodles (zucchini + noodles = zoodles) for a long time, due mostly to unrealistic expectations. Anyone who tells you that zoodles taste just like regular pasta is either totally lying or has a vastly different palate from mine. You can’t expect these to taste like linguine.

When I was scrolling through the recipes on K & K Test Kitchen to choose something to make for this month’s Secret Recipe Club, the gorgeous hue of this healthy salad caught my eye. By the time I read the words “goat cheese” near the end of the post title, I was totally sold. When I see a food that’s naturally bright pink and has my favorite kind of cheese in it, I sign myself right up.

It took me a really long time to jump on the kale bandwagon, but now I’m hooked. I see it at the grocery store and it’s so affordable, so curly, and so healthy looking that I have to buy it. The flavor of kale takes a little getting used to, but I’ve found that when it’s crispy and/or cooked with garlic, even haters will happily chomp on it. This recipe delivers on both counts, and also offsets the leafy kale with sweet potatoes and perfectly-cooked eggs. You start the breakfast skillet on the stove, pan-roasting the sweet potatoes with chopped red onion until they’re tender. The garlic and kale are tossed in and stir-fried just for a minute. Next, you make four little wells amongst the veggies, crack an egg into each one, and then pop the skillet into the broiler. In just a few minutes, the eggs cook and the kale crisps up just like kale chips. You are going to love it!